Sodexo exposed

I am on a recall at HMP Northumberland. The prison is run by Sodexo, a private prison. I have to say that in my view, this prison is poorly run by officers who have no regard towards prisoners’ mental health. I have been waiting seven months to speak to the mental health team. I have asked the officers numerous times, and it is like they are ignoring me. I only got recalled to prison for missing a probation appointment. It is a joke, and I am going to appeal this.

Also, the food situation is bad as well. I ordered a beef burger, and they give us pork sausages on a bun. Every week they give us food that we did not order. Some days they will have no chips. So, we have really small meals because there are no sides to our main meal.

I am a growing lad and I want to learn a trade, but they put me in a really basic job you don’t need skills for. I’ve got told off by my outside probation officer, and was told that I can have a parole hearing on the six-month mark of my recall. They told me that they do not have a date for parole hearings yet. Eight months went by, and I asked again. This time, they only gave me a parole hearing date three weeks before my sentence finishes. And they wonder why prisons are overcrowded.

We only get 15 minutes in the yard daily when we should have an hour’s exercise a day. If you are not from the north-east, the officers won’t help you. It’s like we are invisible. We get the worst jobs, in my opinion. My wage is £12.40 a week. This place is not about rehabilitation. It is more like a school for criminality and human rights violations. Thanks for listening everyone. Try and keep positive.